 | |
 Jean-Michel Nicollet's cover for the first issue. | |
| Current Editors |
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|---|---|
| Former editors |
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| Frequency |
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| Circulation | 250,000 (2016)[1] |
| Publisher | Matty Simmons (1977–1990) Kevin Eastman (1992–2020) David Erwin (2020–2022) Mathew Medney (2022–2023) Marshall Lees (2023–present) |
| Founder | Leonard Mogel |
| First issue | April 1977; 48 years ago (1977-04) |
| Company |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | HeavyMetal.com |
| ISSN | 0885-7822 |
Heavy Metal is an Americanscience fantasy comics magazine, first published in 1977. The magazine is known primarily for its blend ofdark fantasy,science fiction,erotica, andsteampunk comics. Following a brief hiatus in 2023, it relaunched in 2024 with new owners and a new editorial team consisting of Dave Kelly, Frank Forte, and Chris Thompson.[2]
Unlike the traditionalAmerican comic books of that time bound by the restrictiveComics Code Authority, the magazine-formatHeavy Metal featured explicit nudity, sexual situations, and graphic violence. The magazine started out primarily as a licensed translation of the French science-fantasy magazineMétal hurlant, marking for many Americans their first introduction to the work of European cartoonists likeEnki Bilal,Philippe Caza,Guido Crepax,Philippe Druillet,Jean-Claude Forest,Jean Giraud (a.k.a. Moebius),Chantal Montellier, andMilo Manara.
After a 1975 European trip byNational Lampoon contributorTony Hendra expressing interest in European comics, the magazine's New York offices attracted significant European comic material. On 2 September 1976, editorSean Kelly singled out the relatively new French comics anthologyMétal hurlant (lit. 'Howling Metal', though Kelly translated it as "Screaming Metal")[3] and brought it to the attention of company president Leonard Mogel on 3 September, as Mogel was departing for Germany and France to jump-start the French edition ofNational Lampoon.[4] (Métal hurlant had debuted in early 1975 fromLes Humanoïdes Associés (lit. 'United Humanoids'), an association ofPhilippe Druillet,Jean-Pierre Dionnet,Jean Giraud (Mœbius), and financial director Bernard Farkas formed on 19 December 1974.)[5] Upon Mogel's return from Paris on 27 September, he reported that the French publishers had agreed to an English language version, and he suggested the titleHeavy Metal for an April issue to be released in March 1977.[6]
Heavy Metal debuted in the US as a glossy, full-color monthly published byHM Communications, Inc., a subsidiary ofMatty Simmons' Twenty First Century Communications, Inc.[7][a] The cover of the initial April 1977 issue declared itself to be "From the people who bring you theNational Lampoon", and the issue primarily featured reprints fromMétal hurlant, as well as material fromNational Lampoon, a colorized portion ofVaughn Bodē'sSunpot (1971), and an excerpt fromTerry Brooks'The Sword of Shannara (1977).[9] Since the color pages fromMétal hurlant had already been shot in France, the budget to reproduce them in the US version was greatly reduced.[citation needed]
In the late spring of 1980,Métal hurlant went bankrupt[10] andHeavy Metal severed its ties with its content partner.[11]Métal hurlant managed to keep publishing, however, and the two magazines reconciled in the summer of 1981.[12]
After running as a monthly for its first nine years up to the December 1985 issue, the magazine dropped to a quarterly schedule (winter, spring, summer, and fall) beginning in 1986, promising an increase in length and to feature only complete (rather than serialized) stories.[13][14]
Métal hurlant folded in the summer of 1987,[15][16] forcingHeavy Metal to expand its reach for new content.
In 1977–1978, HM Communications published a number oftrade paperbacks featuring "Heavy Metal Presents" on their covers, collecting translated material it had previously serialized in the pages ofHeavy Metal:
In 1978–1979, HM Communications released a number oftrade paperbacks of original content that had been serialized in the pages ofHeavy Metal. These projects also featured "Heavy Metal Presents" on their covers:
In 1981, the company launched a new series,Heavy Metal Special Editions, which consisted of fifty seasonalHeavy Metal specials published until 2008. These began withHeavy Metal Presents Moebius (1981), followed byThe Best of Heavy Metal (1982),Even Heavier Metal (1983),Son of Heavy Metal (1984),Bride of Heavy Metal (1985), andThe Best of Heavy Metal 2 (1986). Beginning withThe Venus Interface (1989, v5 no. 4), the indicia began to feature volume and issue numbers, as well as the phrase "a series of special editions published four times a year byHeavy Metal magazine." After the fiftieth issue, "Overload Special" (Summer 2008, v22 no. 2), the numbering of the seasonal specials was merged into the main series, and continued for another nine issues until the "War of the Worlds Special" (2011).
In late 1988/early 1989, film producerDaniel Grodnik and actor/producerTim Matheson acquired voting control of 21.3 percent of National Lampoon Inc. stock,[20] were named to the company's board, and eventually took control of the company (by purchasing the ten-percent share — worth $760,000[21]— ofMatty Simmons, who departed the company).[22][23]
During this period, publication ofHeavy Metal increased from a quarterly to a bi-monthly schedule, citing a thirty-percent increase in circulation.[24]
A year later,[25] Grodnik/Matheson Co. sold the properties toJ2 Communications, a home video producer and distributor founded by James P. Jimirro, with Grodnik and Matheson staying on for a period to run the new division.[26][27][28]
Kevin Eastman, co-creator of theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who had grown up readingHeavy Metal, bought the magazine for $500,000[29][21] in May 1992.[30] (In total, HM Communications published 137 issues in 15 volumes from April 1977 to March 1992.) Eastman's publishing entityMetal Mammoth, Inc., published the magazine from 1992 to 2014. Eastman also served asHeavy Metal's editor-in-chief for the bulk of this time (even into 2016, after he was no longer the owner).
In January 2014, Eastman sold the magazine to digital and music veteran David Boxenbaum and film producer Jeff Krelitz.[31] Eastman continued to serve as publisher of the magazine (until early 2020)[32] and was a minority investor in the newHeavy Metal,[31] which became at that point published byHeavy Metal Media, LLC.
In late 2019, Krelitz was no longer with the magazine, which was undergoing leadership churn.[33] In early 2020,Heavy Metal saw a regime change to CEO Matthew Medney and "Creative Overlord" David Erwin (formerly ofDC Entertainment).[34] Medney and Erwin announced two new comics publishing ventures,Virus[35] andMagma Comix,[36] though neither line produced much material.
Heavy Metal's 300th issue, published in 2021, featured work byTanino Liberatore,Mark Bodé, andKent Williams, among others; and posthumous work byRichard Corben,Moebius, andVaughn Bodē. It had interviews and testimonials from writers discussing the impact the magazine had on them as teenagers.[37]
In the fall of 2022, the magazine entered into an agreement withonline marketplace Whatnot to publish the following 12 issues of the magazine.[38] Soon afterward, the magazine announced it was "ceasing publication of what they described as the first volume of the magazine, which had been published continuously since 1977. The last issue of the first volume, number 320, was scheduled for publication in late October 2022 and the successor, Volume 2, would be published by WhatNot Publishing starting with issue 1 in February 2023."[39]
Amid cash flow problems, however,Heavy Metal shut down in December 2022. Initially intended to be a temporary suspension, the magazine worked to rectify subscription non-fulfillments and non-payments to artists and vendors. Medney stepped down as CEO, replaced by Marshall Lees and Jamie Penrose.[40]
In July 2023, with Whatnot's publishing division, Massive Publishing, only having produced one issue ofHeavy Metal—#320, released in April of that year and still listing Heavy Metal Entertainment LLC in the indicia—it was announced that the publisher had decided to cancel the magazine and that #320 had been the final issue.[41][42]
On October 15, 2024, Heavy Metal International, LLC announced that they would be relaunching the magazine in 2025, and began aKickstartercrowdfunding campaign for the first issue on November 25, 2024.[43]
Heavy Metal's high-quality artwork was notable. Work by internationalfine artists such asH. R. Giger,Frank Frazetta, andEsteban Maroto were featured on the covers of various issues.Stefano Tamburini andTanino Liberatore'sRanXerox series debuted in the States.Terrance Lindall's illustrated version ofMilton'sepic poemParadise Lost appeared in the magazine in 1980.[44] Many stories were presented as long-runningserials, such as those byRichard Corben,Pepe Moreno andMatt Howarth. Illustrators likeLuis Royo andAlex Ebel contributed artwork over the course of their careers. An adaptation of the filmAlien namedAlien: The Illustrated Story, written byArchie Goodwin and drawn byWalter Simonson, was published in the magazine in 1979.
Here is a starting list of contributing artists featured inHeavy Metal:
The founding editors of the American edition ofHeavy Metal wereSean Kelly and Valerie Marchant. Over the life of the magazine, the two editors with the longest tenures were Julie Simmons-Lynch (who was publisherMatty Simmons' daughter)[45] andKevin Eastman, who was also the magazine's owner/publisher for more than 20 years.
The founding design director was Peter Kleinman (who served in the same capacity forNational Lampoon). He created the originalHeavy Metal logo design, at the request of Mogel, and was responsible for the launch and art direction of the first issue. Kleinman later hired designer and lettererJohn Workman, who brought to the magazine a background of experience atDC Comics and other publishers. Workman served as the magazine'sart director from 1977 to 1984.[46] (His comics art, writing, lettering, coloring, and design work are evident throughout issues from that period.)
Founding editors Kelly and Marchant were replaced in August 1979[47] byTed White,[48] who was hired to introducenon-fiction and prose fiction into the magazine.[49][50] White was fired[51] in August 1980,[52] replaced as editor by magazine founder Leonard Mogel.[53]
Julie Simmons-Lynch took over from Mogel in late 1981,[54] serving asHeavy Metal's editor-in-chief for more than eleven years, stepping down when Kevin Eastman bought the magazine.
With a few breaks, Eastman was chief editor forHeavy Metal from early 1993 until mid-2016. Most of these breaks were packaged and edited by A1 co-creator Dave Elliott. Comics writerGrant Morrison became the magazine's editor-in-chief beginning with the April 2016 issue,[55][1] serving through 2018. They later served as creative advisor.
By issue #298 (2020),Tim Seeley had become editor-in-chief but was out by the end of that year.[56] In 2021, Joseph Illidge took over as Executive Editor but left the company entirely by the end of 2022.[57]
Following the hiatus, all employees were let go and the company was dissolved. Heavy Metal International, LLC revived the brand in 2024 and subsequently announced new editors Dave Kelly, Frank Forte, and Chris Thompson would helm the magazine going forward.
Heavy Metal was widely credited for exposing many Americans/English-speakers to European comics[58] and the continent's top cartoonists.[59] As cartoonist and publisherKevin Eastman said of the magazine, "Heavy Metal published European art that had not been previously seen in the United States, as well as demonstrating anunderground comix sensibility that nonetheless wasn't as harsh or extreme as some of the underground comix – but ... definitely intended for an older readership".[60]
Creators likeGeorge Lucas,[61]Neil Gaiman,[62] andSteven Lisberger[63] have all discussed the influence ofHeavy Metal on their later work.
The magazine was taken to task, however, for its juvenile stories,[64] violence, and misogynist portrayals of women.Entertainment Weekly described the magazine as, "a legendary sci-fi and fantasy comic magazine for adults... and perhaps precocious teens interested in more daring material, or who considerWonder Woman a tad underdressed."[65] Critic R. M. Rhodes pointed out "the abundance of breasts in the magazine [was] somewhat of a running joke over the years."[66]
Sheila Benson of theLos Angeles Times wrote thatHeavy Metal had "charm" but decried its "sadism."[67] Writing about the magazine's early years, Rhodes discussed the voluminous number of pieces in which "the amount of rape (and stories where attempted rape drives the action).... I really didn't keep track of how often it happens, but any number more than 'none' is usually a bad sign. Tragically, it's mostly used as just another plot point, with no mention or indication of the consequences."[66]
In 1981, an animated feature film was adapted from several of the magazine's serials. Made on a budget of U.S. $9.3 million and under production for three years,Heavy Metal features animated segments from several different animation houses, with each contributing a single story segment. Another house animated theframe story which ties all the disparate stories together. Another animated feature film calledHeavy Metal 2000 was released in 2000.
During 2008[68][69] and into 2009,[70] reports circulated thatDavid Fincher andJames Cameron would executive produce and, each, direct two of the eight to nine segments of anew animatedHeavy Metal feature. Kevin Eastman was to also direct a segment, as well as animatorTim Miller,Zack Snyder,Gore Verbinski andGuillermo del Toro.Paramount Pictures decided to stop funding the film by August 2009[71] and no distributor or production company has shown interest in the second sequel, since.[72] In 2011, filmmakerRobert Rodriguez purchased the film rights toHeavy Metal and planned to develop a new animated film at the new Quick Draw Studios.[73]
An animated 3D film entitledWar of the Worlds: Goliath, created as a sequel toH.G. Wells'The War of the Worlds and based on a story previously published in the magazine, was produced by The Tripod Group and released in Malaysia in 2012.[74][75]
The series "Interceptor" is being adapted into a film.[76]
In March 2019, the Fincher project was released as a reimagining television series, titledLove, Death & Robots.[77]
In March 2021,Heavy Metal announced its first move into television with an adaptation of Blake Northcott's trilogy of novels, theArena Mode Saga. The first book was in active development after optioning the rights to the sci-fi thriller.[78] As of 2025 there have been no further developments on these film projects.
Heavy Metal 2000 inspired a video game sequel released in 2000, the PC action-adventureHeavy Metal: F.A.K.K.². It was developed byRitual Entertainment.
In 2001,Capcom releasedHeavy Metal: Geomatrix, an arcade fighting game that later made its way toSega'sDreamcast console. Though not based on any specific material fromHeavy Metal, it featured character designs by frequent contributor Simon Bisley and a style generally inspired by the magazine.
In 2020,Stern Pinball and the production company Incendium released a pinball machine commemorating the 300th issue ofHeavy Metal, featuringTaarna andCold Dead War (2021).[79][80] The made to order machine, with a playfield based on the SternStar Wars release, sold for eight-thousand dollars and shipped in late 2020 along with an exclusive variant cover edition ofHeavy Metal issue #300.[81][82]
In 2021,Heavy Metal launched a podcast network featuring scripted and unscripted shows that focused on horror, fantasy, sci-fi, comedy, and pop culture.[83] The podcast ran for only one season of 20 episodes. The podcast is not currently archived on the Heavy Metal website.
Heavy Metal is on the upswing with both the movie's release and a refocused outlook — the magazine examined with editor Julie Simmons-Lynch.
Media from Commons
